Couple in $800,000 fraud get prison

A woman and her boyfriend who bought a trip to the Super Bowl and other luxury items with more than $800,000 in embezzled funds from a Spokane business will spend time in prison.

Michelle A. Wing, 34, will spend more than six years in a federal prison after pleading guilty to six county of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud, a judge ruled this morning.

Kenneth A. Marsh, 40, was sentenced to 14 months in prison and a year probation last week after pleading guilty to two counts of filing a false income tax return.

Wing, who will be on probation for five years, was ordered to pay more than $755,000 in restitution and Marsh more than $165,000 for money they stole from Centaur, which provided administrative services to two advertising companies, E. Media and Power Marketing Services.

Wing was hired as Centaur's bookkeeper in April 2006 after working as a temporary employee since Dec. 2005.

She and Marsh used fraudulently opened credit cards to pay for Hawaii vacations, jewelry, private school tuition and plane tickets. Wing forged the signatures of Centaur owners to pay the bills, according to federal court documents.

The scheme fell apart when an accountant noticed the checks.

The two were charged in November.
Read Bill Morlin's story on their arrest here.